


Jasmine

by hundebaby2015



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, F/M, Fire Nation (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), The Jasmine Dragon (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hundebaby2015/pseuds/hundebaby2015
Summary: Since Zuko - Lee - has been working at the Jasmine Dragon, he’s seen Jasmine almost every day. She comes into the shop to quietly study. Much to Uncle’s delight, Zuko asked if Jasmine was free to spend some time together.
Relationships: Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. First Date

“So, what would you like to do now?”

Jasmine set her cup down gently and smiled up at Zuko.

_Hell. Why didn’t I think of anything else for us to do? This is exactly why I don’t date. Exactly why..._

“You know,” Jasmine said gently after a moment, pulling Zuko out of his head and back to the bustling tea shop, “It may sound silly, but I love to go feed the turtleducks this time of year…”

Zuko couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face, that is, until he saw Uncle, who was leaning against the wall across from their table, smiling at him. He took a deep breath to push his face back down into his natural scowl, and hoped that she didn’t notice the blush that crept up his face.

“That sounds lovely, Jasmine.”

Her face lit up, and Zuko looked down at his clumsy hands that were folded into his lap. They had been imprisoned there since Zuko had tried to pour tea for the both of them, but ended up spilling almost the whole pot over the table. Luckily, Jasmine had quick enough reflexes to stand up before it spilled onto her chair. It took every ounce of strength that Zuko had not to walk out on their date right then and there. She kept him there with her wide eyes and good-natured laughter.

“Oh, let me just pay, then…” she said, after what must have been an awkward moment.

_This date seems to have a lot of those._

Zuko’s brow furrowed, his hands made their way off of his lap to push her money back towards her. She frowned and tilted her head.

“No, Jasmine. I’ve already taken care of it, don’t worry.”

There was a pause, a moment where Zuko thought that his heart was going to fall out of his chest. Did he offend her by saying that? Should he have made it clear that he already paid? What does…

Jasmine smiled again, and Zuko’s thoughts fluttered out of his mind as quickly as they came in. The two of them stood up, but Zuko noticed that her coins were still on the table.

“Hey, take your coins back, Jasmine,” Zuko said. He cleared his throat when he realized how gruff his voice sounded. “I already told you…”

“No, Lee,” she waved off Zuko’s words. “It can be a tip, okay?”

Zuko stood near the table awkwardly, warring with himself. He can’t make her take her money back, but isn’t he the one whos’ supposed to pay for their date?

Jasmine walked towards Uncle Iroh, who was now sitting at a table near the front of the store, flipping through a pile of papers. She bowed sweetly to him while Zuko walked up awkwardly behind her.

“Thank you for always making me the best tea, Mushi. My life has greatly improved since you and your nephew started working here.”

When she arose, she was greeted by Uncle’s sweet smile and full attention. He grasped her hand gently and bowed his head in return.

“Now, go show my nephew how to have some fun!”

Zuko’s eyes were focused on the bright green carpet as he followed a giggling Jasmine out of the shop. He mumbled a goodnight to Uncle, who just chuckled. Once outside, he walked next to Jasmine, who had her hands in her pockets and was smiling at the ground. How could someone go through life so easily? So lightly? Everytime Zuko looked at Jasmine, she had a smile on her face. Zuko found that while he was with her, he did, too.

“Let’s go through the market,” he straightened and took a deep breath. It was the only confident thing he said through the whole date. “There’s a few things that I want to pick up.”

Zuko found Autumn in Ba Sing Se to be very pleasant. During the day, a gentle breeze brought dancing leaves and crisp air across the open city, then there was a chill at night that made it easier to sleep. At this moment, Zuko was enjoying the season so much because Jasmine was smiling as her hands floated up to her scarf, readjusting it around her neck while the wind played with her hair. Although it was a simple gesture, she seemed to do all things with grace and an easy air around her.

He tore his eyes from her and looked down at the ground while they walked towards the marketplace.

“So, you’ve lived here your whole life?”

“Yes. I was born here. I went to school here. I work here. I’ll probably start a family here…” Her voice was low. Zuko felt her shrug next to him. “It can be boring, but it's safe from the Fire Nation. Safe from outside threats. I’m sure that you can understand that.”

When Zuko glanced at her, she was focused on the road in front of them. It must have been the only time through their whole date so far that he didn’t see her smiling.

The markets weren’t as busy as usual, which helped Zuko to relax and to simply enjoy the company of the pretty girl walking next to him. Something that he hasn’t been able to do since… Well, really since forever.

He made her smile when he bought her a bouquet of fresh flowers and tucked one of them behind her ear. She put her face close to the bouquet and took a deep breath, and offered it to Zuko to do the same.

They wandered around after that, Jasmine eyeing some thick looking scarves and large blankets while Zuko walked next door to buy a basket of bright fruit and a loaf of freshly baked bread. When he returned, Jasmine was bowing to the plump woman behind the counter and thanking her for her time. The woman smiled and gave her a slight bow in return.

“It’s not that cold yet, is it?” Zuko said as they exited the small shop.

“No,” she paused, like she couldn’t find the words. “But it will be soon.”

“I suppose so,” he said, but it didn’t seem like Jasmine was going to say anything else. She was looking at the ground. “Well, I got us a few things to go feed the turtleducks. Do you want to go to the fountain?”

She looked and saw the basket that Zuko was carrying, and a small blush crept into her cheeks. Zuko’s breath caught in his throat when she grabbed his arm.

“I actually know somewhere better.”


	2. First Date

She led him down neighborhoods that he had never even noticed before. The houses were cramped even closer together than where him and Uncle lived, and most of them either had chipped paint or cracked windows. Almost every street they passed, Zuko would look down and see groups of children running after a ball, shouting and laughing at each other. Jasmine still had her arm around his, and stepped closer as a cold wind blew across them.

“I hope that this is okay.” Her words were so quiet that Zuko didn’t know if they were meant for him.

Wherever he looked, he saw children playing while parents sat on porches together. He saw people in their yards, gardening with a smile on their faces and sweat on their brow. The sound of laughter, of children arguing over the rules of their games, of the wind picking up leaves and dragging them across the crowded streets washed over Zuko.

Growing up, he spent the majority of his time inside the palace walls. Everything he needed was there, why would he have needed to leave? He knew that there was a whole city out there, but only ever saw it through his father’s eyes. His father’s incredibly biased eyes. 

“Of course it’s okay,” he whispered back.

He felt her smile next to him. 

“The park isn’t too much further,” she said, nodding ahead. “This is the park that my family and I come to all the time. There’s a family of turtleducks that just had a new baby a few weeks ago.” 

“I haven’t seen a baby turtleduck since I was a child.”

“Really?” She looked at him questioningly, but seemed to swallow what she wanted to say. Zuko was grateful that she didn’t push. He didn’t want to lie to her anymore than he needed to.

She let go of Zuko’s arm as they neared the park. He put the basket of food on a table and followed her to the pond, where she was kneeling down and reaching out towards the family that was swimming towards her. The baby swam past it’s family quickly and went straight into Jasmine’s hand. Zuko couldn’t control the giddy laugh that escaped from him, and was grateful that it was just the two of them around. 

“How did you…” He stuttered, fighting to find the words.

She just smiled and shrugged, holding the baby out towards Zuko. He was acutely aware that mom was right below foot, watching them carefully.   
“Hey, little guy.” 

As tenderly as he could, he reached out and pet the baby turtleduck, who was absolutely loving the attention. When Zuko brought his hand back, it looked at him and started quaking. 

“He likes you,” Jasmine said, laughing.

She put him back down, next to mom, and the pair waddled back into the pond, the baby quaking the whole time. Zuko turned to watch them swim off when he felt Jasmine stiffen beside him. 

“Oh, Lee…” 

He turned to see that the basket of food was gone. A familiar heat that he hadn’t felt in a long time rose up the front of his body, and his vision danced in front of him. His hands were clenched into tight fists by his side. 

“That was for us,” he looked at Jasmine with a twisted face. “I’m going to find who took it…”

Zuko turned away with a grunt of anger, but was stopped short by Jasmine grabbing his arm. He looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Lee… I know that shouldn’t have happened, I know that nobody had a right to take that…” 

“Stealing is wrong, Jasmine. Those things were for us. We were going to have a nice…” Zuko waved awkwardly out at the pond. “We were going to have a nice date. I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Jasmine didn’t meet Zuko’s gaze as she looked down and kicked at the dirt.

“You know, Lee, I think that we’ve already had a great date.”

She looked up at him and gave him a small smile that made his shoulders relax and held his hand gently in hers. Zuko’s heart threatened to pound out of his chest while words tumbled around in his head. They stood quietly like that for a moment until Zuko could make the words clear. 

“I guess that whoever took it probably needed it more than we do, huh?”

Seeing Jasmine smile and feeling her squeeze his hand helped to still the anger that was still stirring in Zuko’s chest.


End file.
